Has Walmart Been Faking Its E-Commerce Figures To Compete With Amazon?

Has Walmart Been Faking Its E-Commerce Figures To Compete With Amazon?

According to Business Insider, a former Walmart executive has filed a lawsuit which claims that he was fired after alerting management to issues that inflated the company's e-commerce sales figures. The retailer's digital sales growth has been dropping since it peaked following the acquisition of Jet.com in late 2016, which more than doubled year-over-year digital sales growth to 63% at the end of 2017's second quarter, up from 29% growth in the prior quarter. If the allegations — which Walmart denies — hold water, that would mean Walmart cut corners to compete against its rival, Amazon. The whistleblower claims the company's online catalog size is allegedly inflated. For example, items that aren't actually available for purchase are listed due to lax controls, and many items originate from low-rated sellers hawking inappropriate or offensive goods. Also, the whistleblower alleges sellers are allegedly frequently overcharged and millions in returns are unprocessed.